How Red Bull's Ingenious Rear Wing Saved Verstappen's Imola Victory
In the high-stakes world of Formula 1, even the smallest of technical choices can make the difference between victory and defeat. Max Verstappen’s recent win at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is a testament to that.
Verstappen, starting from pole, quickly established himself as the frontrunner, holding a commanding eight-second lead. However, as the race wore on, balance issues with his RB20 on the Hard compound brought Lando Norris into play. The McLaren driver managed to close the gap, bringing himself within DRS range and tantalizingly close to overhauling Verstappen.
In the final stages of the race, the battle for first place had fans on the edge of their seats. Norris ended up just seven-tenths of a second behind at the chequered flag, later lamenting that he needed “one or two more laps” to potentially snatch the win from Verstappen.
Verstappen, however, was quick to debunk that notion. He credited Red Bull's rear wing configuration for his crucial advantage in the overtaking zones. The less loaded rear wing not only provided a top speed edge but also made his car harder to overtake, giving Verstappen just enough to fend off Norris.
The Crucial Turn: Maintaining Focus and Speed
Reflecting on the closing stages of the race, Verstappen noted, “As soon as it was like half a second a lap, I was like, that’s a lot. But at the other end, you can’t do anything about it, so I was just trying to do my pace. You cannot try and force half a second out of it when you don’t have the balance.”
This mindset was critical. Instead of pushing his limits and risking errors, Verstappen focused on maintaining consistency and leveraging his car’s strengths—especially its top speed. He concentrated on avoiding mistakes and working around the car’s balance issues, a strategy that paid off in the race’s final laps.
Verstappen explained further: “I was trying to really not make mistakes, really try to drive around the balance issues that I had and be quick on the straight. With the rear wing that we had, we were quite fast on the straight. And yeah, that probably helped a bit in the last few laps to defend.”
A Game of Margins: Avoiding Penalty and Ensuring Victory
Adding even more tension to the high-wire act, Verstappen was also perilously close to a track limits penalty. One more infraction would have cost him the win without Norris even making an on-track pass. The Dutch driver received a warning on the pit wall and had to adjust his driving accordingly, adding an extra layer of complexity to his race management.
“Yeah, I mean, they updated me, of course, with the track limits,” Verstappen recalled. “To just be a bit more careful from that point onwards. The problem was also, I guess, in the beginning I was understeering a lot on the Medium tires, and that was pushing me a bit off sometimes if I missed the apex. So after that, on the Hard tires, just leaving a bit more margin.”
The final laps required Verstappen to walk a fine line—pushing the car to its limit to keep Norris at bay while ensuring he didn’t exceed track limits again. “Of course, the last few laps when Lando was catching, it was a bit harder because then I had to naturally really use the track as much as I could. But we stayed within the lines,” he explained. “It does require a bit more focus, of course, so every exit you have to be really sure what you’re doing.”
In the end, Verstappen’s combination of driving skill, strategic thinking, and the technical advantage provided by Red Bull’s rear wing configuration proved to be a winning formula. His ability to adapt under pressure and make the most of the tools at his disposal are what make him a three-time World Champion.